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• General & History
• Working with Onions
• Varieties
  • Onions
  • Sweet Onions
  • Shallots
  • Garlic
  • Leeks
  • Chives
  • Ramps
• Health & Nutrition

While some of the 350 to 500 Allium species are found in just about all habitable regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the common onions we eat probably originated in Western Asia. It is certain they were being cultivated in the Mediterranean region, particularly Egypt, at least 5000 years ago.

The ancient world had only a few varieties of onion, but today hundreds of cultivars have been developed for specific purposes, regions, and month of maturity. As with so many fruit and vegetable varieties now grown worldwide, many important varieties were developed in California, which grows more than 25% of the U.S. onion crop. Texas is also a significant developer, particularly of sweet onions.

Specific cultivars are of little culinary interest but are absolutely critical to onion growers. For instance, onions start to bulb at a specific day length. The wrong cultivar for a latitude may never bulb or it may bulb too soon resulting in undersize onions. Classifications of culinary interest are:

• Size:   For size information see Yellow Onions.
• Color
  • White are preferred in Mexican cuisine and by onion processors. The flavor is simpler (cleaner) but they are pretty much interchangeable with yellow onions for cooking
  • Yellow are the standard onion found everywhere. They come in "sweet" and "storage" varieties and in many sizes.
  • Brown is a controversial classification among onion experts. For culinary purposes it's just another name for yellow.
  • Red onions are popular sliced in salads for their attractive color pattern but they may stain cooked dishes.
• Sweet vs. Storage
  • Sweet Onions have a high water content and are lower in the sulphur compounds that make onions strong. Mildness and relatively large size make them the darling of the fast food hamburger trade. See Sweet Onions below.
  • Storage Onions are your common supermarket varieties, red, white and yellow. They come in a range of sizes from grape to mellon and are relatively strong compared to sweet onions. Keeping properties are much better than for sweet onions - weeks to months depending on season. See Onions.
• Scallion / Green Onion - [UK Spring Onion] - Scallions are onions that never produce a bulb and are harvested for their leaves which taper from white at the base to deep green over most of their length. Some varieties that would bulb in northern regions can be grown as scallions farther south. See Scallions.
• Shape and Size
  The various colors of onion come in a range of shapes and sizes. Shape and size have no affect on strength and flavor but can be critical to culinary textures.
  • Flattened Globe onions are particularly attractive for slicing for hamburgers or for onion rings as the shape maximizes yield and uniformity.
  • Elongated onions are preferable for slicing lengthwise into wedges for stir frying and such.

Yellow Onion - [Brown Onion, Spanish Onion]

This is the most common onion in the U.S. and generally the lowest cost. They vary in size from less than 4 ounces to well over 1 pound and in color from greenish yellow to as dark as the photo specimens depending on variety (there's an ideal variety for every growing area) and length of storage. The largest of the photo specimens was 3-5/8 inches diameter and weighed over 11 ounces. In cooking it can be used interchangeably with white and red onions, but salads and salsas are more fussy.

Red Onion
Popular raw in salads, these globe shaped onions have relatively thick layers and thicker dried skins. When cooked most of the color is lost, but they are the most popular onion for cooking on the east coast of India. They are preferred for growing in some regions because they're more resistant to blight than yellow or white onions.

White Onion
These offer a slightly cleaner, simpler flavor than regular yellow onions but with the same onion bite. Mexican recipes always call for white onions which are traditional there and for some applications the clean white color is desirable. For cooking there really isn't a noticeable difference between the two so substitute yellow onions if you don't have white. Of the photo specimens, the big one with leaves was 4-1/2 inches diameter and weighed 2 pounds 2-1/8 ounces. The regular ones were 2-7/8 inches diameter and weighed 7 ounces.

Bermuda Onion
An extinct variety of yellow onion (RIP 1985). Spanish Onions are sometimes mistakenly called Bermuda Onions.

Spanish Onion
Properly, this is a spherical yellow onion variety midway between sweet and storage onions. With a water content higher than storage onions they aren't as durable but will last longer than sweet onions.

Scallion / Green Onion - [Spring Onion (UK)]
Scallions are onions of varieties carefully chosen to not bulb before they reach harvest size. Generally in the markets they are cut to about 13 inches long from the base of the bulb, but the photo specimens were untrimmed and are up to 34 inches long. Recipes calling for "3 scallions" are highly imprecise because scallions sold in North America vary from 1/4 inch to 7/8 inch diameter at the bulb end. Figure a standard scallion is 5/8 inch at the bulb and 13 inches long - adjust for the size you have on hand.

Mexican Onion
These are very similar to scallions, but the variety is selected to bulb. They are picked when the bulbs reach about 3/4 inch diameter. The largest of the photo specimens was 7/8 inch diameter.

Sweet Onions
These are the darling of the hamburger stand. Unusually mild because of low sulphur and high water content, they are suited to be the raw onions for the mass market. Many varieties are rather large so they make hamburger size slices, and some varieties are rather flat, maximizing the number of large slices from each onion.

[Eschallot (France); Scalogno (Italy); Moo-Seer (Persia); Bawang merah kecil (Malay); Allium oschaninii]

Shallots have a multi-bulb form similar garlic but with fewer, much larger bulbs. Sliced they appear similar to a small red onion. Their flavor is similar to red onion with a touch of garlic blended in. They are sharp with "tear power" that puts onions to shame.

Shallots have been a "gourmet" item in the U.S. and were mostly imported from France and sold for very high prices. This is changing with prices in California (where large quantities are now grown) dropping by more than half in the last couple of years. This was brought on by the large and growing Indian and Southeast Asian population here - shallots are much used every day items in those regions.

There are two varieties available in California, the large, often elongated European style and the small round Asian variety. Both are shown in the photo. The typical European shallot is 2-1/2 inches long, 1-1/2 inches across and weighs 1.5 ounces. The typical Asian shallot is about 1-1/4 inch long. 1-1/4 inches diameter and weighs 1/2 ounce.

While red onions and garlic can replace shallots in some recipes, they have one attribute that makes them essential for other recipes - they dissolve completely into sauces which onions will not do even if chopped to equal fineness.

What does a recipe mean when it says "One Shallot"? Here's my best estimate based on the shallots available in areas of Southern California that serve particular shallot using communities:

The way I interpret "1 shallot" is, if the bulbs are separate or wrapped together only with paper, each bulb is a shallot. If two bulbs are wrapped together under a layer that's fully living, they count as one shallot. Thus in the photo above, the European at the top and the Asian at bottom left both count as two shallots while the Asian at bottom center would be one shallot.

Garlic   -   [Allium sativum]

There are many varieties of garlic with differing characteristics (see Note O2). Unfortunately about the only garlic available in our markets is a single variety grown in China in vast quantity. I find Gilroy garlic superior but it's almost impossible to find even here in Southern California. The Chinese is often getting a bit old by time it's in the markets here.

Chinese garlic exporters have been convicted under U.S. unfair trade laws. In response, the Chinese set up garlic companies, export huge amounts, then close the company before U.S. regulators can respond. The day they close one company they reopen under another name. Rinse and repeat.

For these reasons, I buy all my garlic at Certified Farmer's Markets, where I can be sure it's locally grown, relatively fresh, complies with U.S. trade laws and doesn't contain any weird chemicals used to make it grow faster.

Leeks - [Allium ampeloprasum]
Leeks originated in southeastern Europe and/or western Asia, but were carried as far as the British Isles in prehistoric times. It is certain they were used as food in ancient Egypt at least 4000 years ago, but probably much earlier.

Ramps   -   [Wild Leek, Ail des bois (French), Allium tricoccum]

Ramps are native to the Appalachian mountain chain from South Carolina north into Canada. They are particularly popular in West Virginia and Quebec, Canada. Both the scallion like bulbs and the leaves are eaten and they are described as being like a combination of onion and garlic. Very seasona1, they are available only from late winter through early spring.

While there are ramp festivals in Virginia and West Virginia and restaurants there serve them in season, in most of the country they are available only through gourmet outlets at absurd prices. Commercial production is experimental and seems to work only in a forest setting.

Protective laws are in place in Quebec where ramps cannot be sold or handled commercially, but poachers sneak them across the border into Ontario to sell to restaurants.

Alliums are safe to eat in any quantity you are likely to consume. They are low in sodium, free from fats and cholesterol and contain a pretty good mix if vitamins and minerals.

Onions, garlic and leeks have played an important role in traditional medicine and healing since before the dawn of history. Both internal and topical applications have been common. Today they are being studied for anti-cancer properties so varieties can be developed particularly high in cancer fighting elements.

Other characteristics being studied are the ability of onions to lower blood pressure, control blood clotting, reduce blood cholesterol and improve the ratio of "good" to "bad" cholesterol. Anti-bacterial characteristics are also gaining attention, particularly for fighting drug resistant bacteria.

Garlic is reputed to repel vampires, a characteristic important to the health of any person set upon by them. This has not been confirmed by controlled scientific studies as no such studies have been conducted.

• O1:   Onions and Cancer - Cornell University.
• O2:   Varieties of Garlic - We Grow Garlic - Wisconsin.